Nowhere Man
by darkmystress00
Summary: When Beth has only a song to trigger her memory after being shot in the head, will she remember her 'Nowhere Man?


_He's a real nowhere man,_

 _Sitting in his nowhere land._

 _Making all his nowhere plans for nobody._

Beth stared down at the vinyl as it spun around the record player. The bouncy tune filled the empty corridor of Grady hospital and Beth found her head bobbing to the melody. Beth's soft voice cut through the air, as she closed her eyes and sang along. She gripped the mop handle in her hands and swished it along the floor, dancing and bouncing around the floor as she cleaned. A familiar face flashed in her mind and she smiled. Dark long hair, hiding gentle blue eyes. His rugged face came to her, this time, illuminated by flickering firelight. Beth stilled and just watched the images flashing behind her eyelids.

It had been almost a month since she'd woken up locked in a car, blood smeared along her forehead. She'd been in the parking lot of Grady, and had apparently been shot in the head. How she had survived, Beth had no idea, all she knew was she had woken up with a hole in her head, and a chunk of time missing from her memory.

At first she'd been confused, expecting to be on the farm with her daddy and Maggie. She'd pitched a fit when the doctor had informed her where she was and that she was alone. She'd pitched such a fit she'd had to be restrained and tied to the bed. Her heart had thumped quickly in her chest when the cops had come in and handcuffed her to the railing of the bed. She couldn't remember but deep down she knew there was something off with the things happening in this hospital.

It had taken a good couple of weeks before they'd let her get out of bed, waiting for the injury to her head to heal. They wanted to see if anything would come back to her. And slowly, but surely, bits and pieces had come back. She remembered the farm being overrun. She remembered the Governor. She remembered her daddy dying. That had been a hard afternoon.

Beth had been moving around the storage room when the memory had hit her like a ton of bricks. She'd collapsed to her knees, clutching her chest as she struggled to breathe under the pain of her visions she was seeing. She'd cried off and on for a week, but only behind closed doors and when she was by herself. She knew better than to show weakness in this place.

It was just after that she'd found this old record player, and the vinyl that brought her memories of _him._ She couldn't remember his name, but she knew his face. She knew his voice. She knew he was kinder than he wanted others to know, and that he helped make her strong after her daddy died. She remembered he was the one who taught her things like tracking and hunting, and how to protect herself. She remembered he was the one who made her heart thump a little faster when he was around. She remembered he was the one who made her cheeks heat up when he'd give her that soft look. She remembered the candle light and 'Oh…' and how he'd promised to meet her up the street when the walkers had swarmed the place.

But she still couldn't remember his name. He'd become her 'nowhere man'. She'd begun making it a habit to escape up to this room to listen to this song, because every time she played it, he would come to her in memories, and make her cheeks heat up and her heart thump. She wondered where he was, but she knew better than to ask. She had a plan.

She was getting out. She'd been slowly stocking up her supplies so she could slip out, and tonight was the night. Tonight was the night she was going to find her nowhere man.

Careful feet led her through the forest around her. She'd been traveling longer than she cared to think about. Leaves had gone from green, to orange, to brown, to strewn about the forest floor. Her eyes scanned the ground for tracks of the animal she was tracking.

Distant song lyrics ran through her head. She wanted to hum along, but the grumbling in her empty stomach prompted her to stay silent. So she bobbed her head to the silent melody rattling around her head.

 _He's as blind as he can be  
Just sees what he wants to see  
Nowhere man, can you see me at all_

Her eyes stared off into space for a moment as she drifted away to get lost in a memory. A memory soaked in moonshine and the heat of summer. "You're going to miss me so bad when I'm gone, Daryl Dixon." She breathed.

 _Nowhere man don't worry  
Take your time, don't hurry  
Leave it all till somebody else  
Lends you a hand_

A branch snapped to her right and her head jerked in that direction. She saw bushed rustling and lunged in that direction. This could be dinner, and she was so hungry. She chased the sound of snapping twigs and crunching leaves until she'd lost track of where she'd started and what direction she was now traveling in. She stopped and the forest was silent. She listened again, and frowned. She'd lost whatever she was chasing.

She sat down on a fallen log, swinging her raggedy pack in front of her to see if there were a few scraps of something floating around inside. Her song once again danced around her brain, and for the first time in a long time, she gave in to the urge to sing. " _He's a real nowhere man. Sitting in his nowhere land. Making all his nowhere plans for nobody."_

A branch snapped behind her and out of sheer instinct she stood, spinning around and aiming a small handgun (a prize she'd managed to escape Grady with) at the intruder. She froze as wide shocked familiar blue eyes stared back at her. "Nowhere man…" she breathed and lowered her gun, watching as he dropped his crossbow at his feet, frozen.

"Beth?" Daryl's right hand came up to reach for her as if he was seeing a ghost. She needed no more prompting as all the memories of him assaulted her at once. She lunged herself at him, barreling into his chest, and fisting her hands in his leather vest. She shivered as she felt his arms close around her and press her close. He held her like he thought she might disappear from him. "I thought…" she heard him rumble above her. "We thought…"She could hear the emotion choking him and knew she'd sound the same. But she had to at least try.

"I know, Daryl." She breathed his name, like it was a sacred word, and to her it was. "But I'm here now." Her voice broke as she held him and he held her. "I found you Nowhere Man. And I'm here now." She could feel him break as his frame shook with silent emotions, and she realized she was shaking with her own sobs. She knew neither one of them needed to hide from the other. For the first time since she'd woken up with just an image of his face, and a missing gap of time, Beth finally felt like she was home. She was home with her Nowhere Man, wherever he was, that was home.


End file.
